Shiranai
by Marie Darkholme
Summary: The day was just about finished and she was half-awake walking back to her dorms from the University. It was certainly not the best time for a hollow to attack. Wasn't that the reason she had left Karakura in the first place?
1. Two Strangers Meet

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. How could anyone think that I did?

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><p><span>Shiranai<span>

By

Marie Darkholme

CHAPTER ONE: Two Strangers Meet

_How had this started again?_

_Ah, yeah. Kuchiki Rukia. _

The name rolled into her mind not without certain bitterness to it. No, she had nothing against the petit black haired shinigami. What she was against was the havoc said girl had somehow managed to bring into her life. But Rukia was an alright person. She might have even befriended her if the shinigami had been interested in it; which apparently she hadn't been.

_Roll back. Backhand spring. Right. Left. Right. An opening!_ Axe kick. And a crack appeared in what was supposed to be the thing's face which obviously sent it into an angered frenzy. Letting out a deafening cry heard only by those spiritually aware the hollow raised his deformed hand and even though the girl rolled away avoiding most of his claws, one of them still managed to imbed itself into her right shoulder blade. She winced, the pain partially dulled by the fight induced high adrenaline state she was in.

_Damned hollow! _She thought as the blood started gushing from the wound. For brief moments she revaluated the option of running away. But once more she discarded it for the same reasons that had her rejecting it the first time around. She could not outrun that hollow. And if she could not outrun it, the only option left was to try and fight it. That was the shitty thing about the situation.

She had just finished her day at the University. It had been a pain to keep herself awake throughout the seemingly never ending lecture that albeit being interesting had her yawning every few minutes. That was probably due to the fact that she hadn't been able to catch much sleep lately. She just seemed to always have something to keep her occupied. Between her university assignments, training and working there wasn't much time left. But then, there were also the hollows that for some unknown reason had just been extremely annoying the past two weeks. So, as she was taking her usual path from the university campus to the dorms, her brain had only been half awake. That was probably the reason she didn't felt the hollow coming until it was practically turning the corner to grab her. being a spiritually aware human in a town where there were few aware people tended to make her somewhat of a target for hollow attacks.

Tsk! Where the hell are those damned shinigami when you need them? She thought annoyed. It was supposed to be one around every city, but so far she had yet to see the asshole in charge. Taking advantage of the wall by her side, she gained impulse and height by kicking it upwards, she channelled her kinetic energy into one point and slammed her fist into the hollow's mask once more.

And the crack spread which only got the hollow more pissed and not exactly dead.

"You puny human!" it howled. "How dare you? That fucking hurt!"

_Oh, boo-hoo for you. As if I could care less._ The girl thought as she ignored the hollow's complaints and sprinted down the street trying to put some distance between them and at the same time looking for something hard and preferentially pointed that she could use as a weapon against it. The raw power emanating from the creature was clearly above her level. But she wasn't just going to nicely hand her soul over.

Being able to track reiatsu, distinguishing the several types of it and grading it into levels was the most interesting thing she was capable of using her spirit energy for. That was handy when she detected hollows, allowing her to try and avoid the ones clearly too strong for her current level. Unfortunately when the option of running away was out of the table so were her chances of winning.

_Ah damn! I was actually looking forward to tomorrow's presentation. And after I worked so fucking hard on it too, I'm just about to become hollow food. Wasn't getting attacked all the time the reason why I left Karakura?_ A stingy feeling in the back of her mind reminded her that had been merely part of the motives.

_Dodge right. Dodge left. _And another claw made its way towards faster than she could move, this time hitting her leg that had lagged behind for nanoseconds. She felt the anterior muscles of her right thigh getting dissected and this time she couldn't avoid a scream of pain getting squeezed out of her as her knees gave in.

_This is annoying._ She thought as the hollow took the moment to laugh at her imminent defeat. It reminded her of her last battle in Karakura. It bared a wicked resemblance to the one going down at the moment. The marks where still visible on her body as a large scar on her left arm and five puncture marks over her lower abdomen where the beast had impaled her. When the hollow had removed his claws from her abdomen and the sudden blood lost had caused a drop in blood pressure and send her to near unconsciousness, she had thought death was upon her. Fortunately, Yoruichi wasn't called Goddess of Flash just for amusement. In less than a minute the fight was over and even thought she was glad her life had been saved, the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach could not be avoided. Being protected sucked.

The night was cold but she felt nothing as she sped up through the empty street. She didn't want to die but she wasn't about to attract the beast to a street filled with defenceless, blissfully ignorant human souls.

Her features brightened slightly when she spotted mere metres ahead on her path what appeared to be an iron bar. Why it was there, seeing as there were no constructions nearby, she couldn't care less. Biting down her lip to counter the ripping pain on her leg, she made a renewed run for it. The timing was flawless. Just as the huge hollow was about to chop off her head, she skidded on the asphalt ignoring the consequent burns and swung the bar with her remained strength to hit the monster squarely across his mask covered face.

The thing let out a loud and strident pained howl as its grotesque mask cracked across its entire width and...

...it didn't break.

The girl's eyes widened as the furious creature approached, his claws clutching his cracked mask as it screamed.

"You fucking, little, useless human! I'm going to kill you! Kill you!"

No strength left to fight back, she simply lay down and said goodbye to the cruel world, hoping her body wouldn't be too battered so as not to disturb her parents more than her death would.

When she looked back up to the hollow decided to face death with her eyes open, she was surprised to see the white mask shatter and the creature literally disintegrated in a myriad of spiritrons with a final howl. Resting her upper body over her elbows she got a glance of something glowing in the dark night just behind the disintegrating hollow.

"Well, that was certainly a nice demonstration of fighting skills and improvising. But I suggest you leave this job to the pros next time."

Standing at her feet, his sword still on his hand, was a man all clad in black. Ignoring his imposing figure and the stupid comment, the girl sat and started to inspect her injuries. This time she would really have to go to the hospital. She sighed knowing the trouble it would be to deal with the questions at the ER, but quickly decided it was better than being dead and having her soul eaten.

"Let me tend to your wounds." The man was suddenly kneeling beside her, his sword already in its scabbard neatly tied at his side. She couldn't help noticing the brilliant green of his eyes as he looked into hers.

"Thanks." She muttered as he lifted the torn tissue of her shirt, exposing the cut on her back.

"Part of my duties. Don't sweat about it." he replied with a goofy grin. "So, what are you? Quincy? Fullbringer?"

She could feel the heat generated by his hands as he used his kidou to heal her injury. "Quincy?" she snickered at the thought. "Don't bundle me in together with those snob bastards." She smiled.

"So, a Fullbringer?" By now the young looking shinigami, she was sure he had a few decades at least on top of that appearance, had finished her back wound and was moving towards her leg. "Wow!" he exclaimed as he parted the torn tissue of her jeans. "This looks painfully deep."

"Nah, just a little cut." The girl laughed but her braveness was betrayed by a wince when the shinigami's hand slightly brushed against her skin. "And I'm not a Fullbringer either. Just a human with a stronger reiatsu than normal souls."

The shinigami averted his eyes from the wound to watch her for a few seconds. "I see." He replied, a hint of _is that so?_ showing in his voice. "That's very rare stuff to come by seeing as most spiritually aware humans seem to eventually develop Fullbringing abilities." He narrowed his eyes at her as if he was evaluating her. "And you have quite an amount of spirit power."

"Yeah, well, it didn't serve me much seeing as I was almost hollow's dinner tonight." She looked up into the star filled night sky.

The silence lasted for a few minutes.

"You seem well informed about these matters." The shinigami watched under suspicious eyes. Having finished what he had called his job, he stood up, his hand resting on the hilt of his zanpakutou. The girl stood after him and rewarded him with a sorrowful smile.

"That might be because you're far from being the first shinigami I've met."

"I see." His hand remained on the hilt of the sword, even if slightly more relaxed now.

"And I'm actually also acquainted with a Quincy and my own share of Fullbringers. So yeah, I'm a tad more informed about Soul Society's shit than your average human." She cleaned her dirty hands to the ragged jeans before extending it to the shinigami. "Arisawa Tatsuki. Law student at the local Human University."

The shinigami blinked in surprise at the hand offered before deciding to accept it. "Kazuma Usui. Third Seated Shinigami in the Ninth Division." He grinned.

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><p>Hello everyone! Did you like this try out? I actually wrote this almost without any context in mind when I was on the bus to the hospital and during a lecture. Well, then I had to type it in the computer, hihi.<p>

I'm actually not sure if I should continue this even though it clearly feels like a beginning and has no substance for a one-shot. I've got a few ideas in my head, but not sure if they are not too cliché.

Tell me what you think, pwease. ^_^


	2. Stranger in a Tree

Disclaimer: and once again, let's say it all together, I don't own Bleach. KT does. (BTW KT: Ukitake created the shinigami badge? Does he even know how to do that?)

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><p><span>Shiranai<span>

By

Marie Darkholme

CHAPTER TWO: Stranger in a tree

The girl was nearly the personification of a living clock. At least where it was concerning to her morning training.

At 6 a.m. sharp every morning she could be seen in her sport shorts and shirt, her MP3 player neatly placed in an armband, the small headphones already on her ears. The circuit would change every day, but it was always more or less an hour of steady fast running. In the final 10 minutes she would accelerate and end with a small sequence of stretches before heading back to the dorms. Half an hour later, at 7h30 a.m. she was out once more. Her hair was always wet and falling in locks over her eyes. With a black bag swung over her shoulder and her headphones back in her ears, she always walked fast on her way to the University.

Classes began at 8 a.m. and Arisawa Tatsuki was always five minutes early, at least. She was friendly with everyone that approached her, smiling more often than not and by what he could see, she appeared to be quite popular between her classmates. But the truth was he could feel a certain detachment as she grinned and laughed of her companions' jokes.

She was usually occupied with her classes until lunch time. By then, she would separate herself from the rest of the classmates, even though he could tell she was always invited to go along with them. Instead she ate alone; sometimes in the University's cafeteria, other times somewhere in the Campus where she could sit and eat her home-made cooking.

He tried to keep himself out of sight as she approached the very tree he had decided to occupy for that day. It felt odd to have to hide himself. He was not accustomed neither to being seen by humans nor following them. That said following a human that could see him was quite a challenge. But he was rather enjoying it.

When she reached the tree, the girl sat down on the grass and he was not surprised to see her reach into her black bag and retrieve a small quadrangular bento box. It was a nice day. The temperature was just warm enough for the soft breeze that made her black hair sway gently to feel good. All in all, it was an excellent day to enjoy while eating outside.

As she opened the box, picked her chopsticks and started eating, the shinigami relaxed and slowly resumed back to his thoughts about said black haired girl.

Her afternoons were a bit more erratic. Sometimes she had classes that stretched into the night or group works that kept her in the university until late hours. Other times he had found her studying or researching big and thick old looking books in the library. That reminded him of his time at the Spiritual Arts Academy, not so many decades before. By night was the time she appeared to be more reactive. It was by then that her martial art training took place, everyday for two hours.

"You can come down from there." A voice stated, forcibly removing him from his inner thoughts.

_What the hell?_ was the first thing that crossed his mind. As he looked below him to the obvious source of the voice he noticed the girl wasn't looking up and was simply putting away her bento box. However, there was no one else around and assuming she wasn't one of those crazy people that talked to themselves, the comment had been directed at him. He contemplated his options. Had she heard him? Or seen him? He had been so careful not to be spotted. How had she known he was there?

"C'mon! I'm getting a bit tired of being watched while I eat." She spoke again, this time turning her head in his direction.

Kazuma Usui agilely climbed down the tree, flash-stepping to stand just before the girl with a quizzical expression on his face. At the same time, he felt slightly ashamed of getting caught like that.

The girl watched him casually while taking a bite of an apple she had just retrieved from her bag. She patted the grass beside her with her free hand, motioning for him to sit down. When he didn't she just continued to chew the piece of apple in her mouth, completely unfazed by his actions, or lack of it thereof.

"How did you know I was up there?" he asked more than a bit shaken by her attitude. He had expected to get some sort of reaction from her when he didn't comply in sitting down. She looked like the kind of person who would at least roll her eyes at him. But if his actions hadn't managed to stir her up, his words however had her looking up at him with a surprised expression. Her eyes narrowed him, her hand suspended halfway to her mouth.

"Are you stupid?" it wasn't a rhetorical insult. Instead, she gave the question a completely serious inquiring tone. She really was asking herself more than asking him if he was somewhat retarded. Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Hello!" she waved her free hand in front of her eyes. "Spiritually aware human here. I've been feeling you following me around for most of the day in the past week."

The shinigami opened his mouth and then closed it again. She had felt him? _That's...that's, well, not impossible but still very, very, very, very hard, considering I've been suppressing my reiatsu._ He thought. _For a human at least, it should be near impossible. Even if it is a spiritually aware human. What kind of spirit power does she have to track me down like that?_

"Hey, shinigami!" the girl pulled his shihakusho to get his attention. "Don't just stand there gapping. It's weird and it's fucking getting on my nerves."

Once again, Kazuma found himself being brought back to reality by the girl's voice. Her apple was halfway to be completely eaten. He saw as she glanced to her watch, clearly checking how much time she had until some unknown commitment, before she looked back up at him. "By the way, thanks for haunting those monsters that have been showing up lately. I haven't had a week this relaxed since...humph, I can't even remember."

Her smile, a true bright thank you smile had him completely surprised. He had seen nothing like that in the entire week he had been following her. And she certainly didn't look like she gave out smiles like that often. But judging by the amount of hollows he had taken on lately just around her, it was easy to imagine the sort of disturbance they would cause in her daily life. Deciding that it might be worth getting to know the human girl a little better instead of following her around, the shinigami finally sat down by her side, resting his zanpakutou on the green grass besides him.

"That's more like it." she commented as he sat. "I was starting to get a neck ache from looking up."

Kazuma waited as the girl took another bite on the apple. There were questions he wanted to make, but he wasn't sure what the best approach would be. Would she rather be asked directly or was she the beat around the bush type? _Damn, talking to women is too complicated._

"Tatsuki, right?" he started, still unsure of how to begin the conversation. Adding to the fact he was not the most eloquent shinigami, he really had no idea how to casually talk with women. On top of that, this was a human woman. He was sure that was bound to complicate things further.

Her reply was immediate. "You stalk that many human girls to not be sure what my name is?" she laughed. Kazuma was embarrassed to notice she had caught on his shyness to start the conversation and that had just been her way of playing along. "Yeah, Arisawa Tatsuki."

"Is that supposed to mean you remember my name?" he inquired with a smirk.

"Hell yeah, Kazuma Usui." She replied nonchalantly while taking another bite of the apple.

_So she likes to act like a smartass._ He thought to himself as he glanced towards the girl sitting at his side. "Well, Arisawa Tatsuki, for how long have you been spiritually aware?"

"Straight to the point, huh? I like that." Her face assumed a thoughtful expression. "It started when I was around fifteen, so, it's been around...four year, more or less." She replied, shifting her gaze back to him. "My turn." She continued, a hint of excitement in her voice. "How old are you?"

The shinigami's face showed his surprise for brief seconds. It was an interesting question. The truth was he didn't know exactly how old he was. Having lived a great part of his life alone in the Rukongai before entering the Shinou Academy had him a bit lost to his actual age.

"I'm actually not entirely sure," he replied truthfully. "but I would say about a hundred and twenty or so."

"You are indeed very well preserved for such an old man." She smirked, so completely unaffected by the information that Kazuma momentarily forgot she was actually a human and not a shinigami like him. He hit her playfully on the shoulder as he too laughed. For a second though, he thought he had seen her flinch. But that was unlikely as he had seen her taking much harder punishments without so much as a wince, so he quickly discarded the reaction as his own imagination.

"Four years, huh?" he started, keen on playing her game if it meant she would answer his questions. "So, until four years ago, you had no idea whatsoever about the Spirit World?"

Her laugh was filled with something other than amusement. He couldn't quite place what it was it sounded like. No, it wasn't that is sounded, it just felt different. As if there was actually sadness in it, with just a bit of anger in the mix. He wasn't sure. Her answer took a little more than usual to cross her lips.

"Yeah, sort of. Until four years ago, I was a normal human." She replied absently while playing with the core of the apple in her hands. "A normal human with normal friends." the apple slipped from her fingers and just like that her expression change. "Well, not totally normal, though. I always enjoyed kicking ass."

Were all women such mood swingers or was Arisawa Tatsuki especially good at it? The shinigami was starting to doubt his interrogation techniques. Wasn't he supposed to satisfy his curiosity with his questions? Because all he had managed so far was to formulate even more questions.

"So, third Seat of the Ninth Division," she smiled. "How long ago have you finished the Shinigami Academy? Or are you fresh out of it?"

"Actually, I was a quick graduate. But I've only been a third Seat for a year or so." the shinigami said as he leaned his back against the tree. "I was first assigned to the Eleventh Division when I finished the Academy and was there for a long time." He continued all the while watching her expression carefully. Again she was able to surprise him with how well she took in the information, not a hint of confusion showing. Instead, the recognition was obvious in her untroubled face; as if she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You actually know a lot more about shinigami matters than you're letting me on, right?" he inquired with a smile.

The girl at his side smirked mischievously as she stood up. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't." She said as she picked up her school bag. "My afternoon classes start in a few minutes. Law throughout history. Are you interested?"

The shinigami stood after her. He felt odd at how unbothered and natural she acted around him, even thought she was most probably the only person in the Campus that could see him. It felt as if she was used to hanging around with spirit beings. Even if she had met shinigami before, and Quincy and Fullbringers, it didn't quite explain her interaction with him. Shinigami didn't hang around humans. _Actually, now that I think about it, there is a group of shinigami that hang a lot around humans, Fullbringers I was told, but humans nonetheless._

"I think I'll leave it for another time." He waved his hands dismissively and the girl shrunk her shoulders in a clear you don't know what're you missing mockery and walked away waving him goodbye with her free hand. His next question was a whim of the moment. A shot in the dark that he hadn't even totally considered.

"Are you by any chance from Karakura?"

Even with her back turned to him, the change was so abrupt that it was actually disturbing. Her hands dropped by her sides, her shoulders tensed up and her back stiffened visibly. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath. When she turned around to face him, it was only her eyes that betrayed her. More than the repressed anger he was expecting to see, they showed a sorrow that she miserably failed to hide.

"You already asked your question. Next time it's my turn." She made an attempt of a smile before turning back around and mingling with a group of girls he had seen in her class before.

As she walked away, Kazuma found himself staring after her. Arisawa Tatsuki truly was a mysterious human woman. _Next time it's her turn, she says._ His thoughts were interrupted by the beeping sound of his denreishinki. _Nice timing for a hollow. I really need to let out this anxiety and relax._ And with a flash-step he was gone from the Campus.

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><p>Konbawa minna, I guess I'm going to continue this fiction. It really doesn't feel like a one shot. I'm still not sure about the outcome so I'll just go with the flow. If anyone out there is asking if this will be a IchiTatsu (since I'm head over heels for it), I still don't know that either.<p>

I hope you like my OC Kazuma Usui. He's an alright fellow once you get to know him ^_^

Thanks a lot to the two reviewers:

winter winds: you're very kind. I think the only reason you feel that is because I kind of like to imagine those fights and try to pass than on the readers. I'm glad you liked it.

dragonlayer: cool sounds good to me ^_^ (the part about the more please sounded as if you were asking for seconds on a dish you had just devoured, hihi).

Bye bye


	3. Stranger in the Dojo

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. This plot, though, it's mine ^_^

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><p><span>Shiranai<span>

By

Marie Darkholme

CHAPTER THREE: Stranger in the Dojo

_Are you by any chance from Karakura?_ The question lingered in her thoughts, mischievously creeping through the blockades in her mind. Even if not in the most effective way, she had managed to at least postpone any reply but the question was bond to come back. Especially after she had basically invited him to talk to her again.

_And why am I befriending that shinigami again?_ She asked herself, unsure if she even wanted to know the answer to it. Well, maybe it was more like she was unsure if she was ready to admit the reason rather than not knowing it.

After saving her and treating her wounds he had conveniently disappeared as it was to be expected of a shinigami. She was throughout surprised to find him following her the next day. Expecting and half hoping him to just give up once he realised the life of a human university student wasn't that much fun, she decided to ignore him. But after a week, his almost constant presence was like a migraine constantly pinching her head. It became clear he was not going to stop anytime soon, so she might as well let him know she was on to him.

"Arisawa-san!" a girly voice interrupted her inner divagations. A sigh escaped her lips as she put her notebook back into her bag and turned to the girl now standing beside her.

"Arisawa-san, a bunch of our classmates and I are going to karaoke tonight." The girl spoke as they walked towards the sliding door in the back of the room. "Wanna come?"

_Uh, slippery territory._ "That ought to be fun." She said with a smile. "But I've got a MMA training tonight."

"Oh!" The face of her classmate was a long way from disappointed. "Okay then. Maybe next time." And with those words the girl walked away waving her goodbye as she met up with the rest of the group waiting for her near the building's exit.

Not bothering looking back, she just walked in the opposite direction. Nonetheless, the comments of her classmates still reached her.

"I still don't get why you wanted me to ask her. I mean everyone knows she's fun-defficient." "Don't be like that. It's nice to ask." "Yeah, and she's damn nice too." "Uh, pervert!" "I think she just doesn't know when to stop working." "Yeah, she's kind of a freak for martial arts. And she's always beaten up." "You guys are so..."

The rest of the conversation dissolved within the sound of other students talking and laughing as she walked farther away and they walked outside. She couldn't help to snicker as she crossed the back door into the campus street. _Nice! They don't know about my awesome personality but they already caught on my most recent special trait: workaholic!_ She wasn't lying though. She really had a MMA training. Not that it would keep her from hanging out with them afterwards. Yeah, sure she would be tired and of course she would enjoy nothing more than a nice bath and the comfort of her bed sheets...she sighed. If she was going to be like that every time they asked, exclusion was bound to happen.

_Maybe I can swing by after practice at their usual hangout place._ She did not want to get excluded so early in the semester.

The evening was nice but it was, nevertheless, cold. She pulled the zipper of her hoodie and tucked her hands inside her sleeves in the attempt to get as many body parts away from the freezing blowing wind as possible. Her senses tingled with the presence of a hollow a few miles north of her current position. The constant awareness to the heartless monsters had been hard to cultivate but now it was _almost_ as natural as breathing (she usually didn't stop breathing when she was too distracted and tired).

The presence quickly faded, leaving her immediately more relaxed. It had been a low-level hollow which the shinigami resident quickly took care of.

_I forgot to ask how long has he been positioned here._ It was strange that she had never noticed his presence before when now it was so clear to her. And vice-versa. So, he probably hadn't been in the city for very long. _Oh hell, not that I should care._

Shrinking her shoulders, she tried to get her neck inside the hoodie, reaching the conclusion that perhaps she should have brought a muffler as the wind breeze crawled down her back and made her shiver. Getting pass the cold, her thoughts quickly resumed themselves back to the previous issue. So maybe she shouldn't care, but she found herself thinking quite a lot more than she wanted to admit about the green eyed shinigami. Her curious mind still had a lot of missing information about the strange realm called Soul Society and its inhabitants. The reason for her curiosity was still a mystery to her. Orihime had sort of explained the basics about how things worked there, but there was still a lot she didn't know and _the rest of the parts involved weren't too keen on telling me shit let alone explaining anything._

An annoying ringing sound interrupted her thoughts, but it must have been ringing for longer than what it took for her to find it in her purse, judging by voice on the other side that came in a low shy whisper. "Did I interrupt a class?"

She chuckled at the image of her mother whispering into the cell phone microphone. "No mom. It just took me a while longer than usual to find the phone." She replied, the unneeded lie slipping through her lips naturally.

The long list of questions that followed were those expected of any mother whose only child is away studying; what did you do today? How are classes going? Have you been eating properly? Don't just eat junk food and have a decent meal every day. Don't go out alone at night. Have you been washing your clothes properly? Don't just wear the same ones over and over again. And since this was her, the usual please try not to get into fights and act a bit more feminine.

The replies followed exactly the same rule, some of them were already imbibed in her mind and she barely gave any thought to it; the usual; yeah, classes are going just fine; yes, I've been eating properly mom, you know I've got to watch out what I eat if I want to be the next vale-tudo champion!, stop being a pain in the ass mom, I'm not a damsel in distress. This sort of reply usually got her a scold. Yes, I've been washing my clothes properly and no, I'm not wearing the same ones every day, I'm not a damn child anymore, mom. And they usually finished with the oh please, mom, not this talk about being girly again.

This time however something went slightly different. Maybe it was the fact that her mother failed to scold her in the appropriate moments about her language. Maybe it was the silence that followed what was usually the last question after which they normally said goodbye. Maybe it was nothing but the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She heard her mother giving a long sigh on the other side of the phone and her eyebrow twitched.

"Tatsuki-chan" her mother started after a small pause in which she could tell she had been gathering some courage to say whatever she had to say. Something was definitely wrong. Her mother only addressed her like that when she wanted to convince her to do something she did not want to do. "I know you said you didn't want to" _bullseye! _"but there's someone here to talk to you."

_Shit!_ It felt like someone had just punched her in the chest while she was inhaling and all the air was just expelled of her lungs. _So that was the reason for this tiptoed conversation!_ Her mother never really called that early because she knew she was occupied most of the times. But whatever, she could have just felt like calling earlier today. Or maybe she had something to do later. _But of course not!_

"Mother, don't you d-" but it was too late.

"Tatsuki-chan?" the voice on the other side was sweet and innocent and she would recognize it anywhere.

For a second, she considered hanging up. But she couldn't. That would be too cruel not to mention childish and pointless.

"Hi Hime-chan." She sighed, resigned to endure the call. _What a stupid way to say hello._

"Is it really you, Tatsuki-chan?" the orange haired girl was clearly failing miserably on containing a sob. She could imagine her clutching the phone tightly in her hands, her face a mix of happiness and sorrow. A sting of guilt pinched her and she suddenly felt the need to lean against the nearest wall.

"Yeah, it's me."

The silence that followed felt like one of the longest in her life. Orihime was probably trying to sort through the many questions she surely had. After all, her _best friend_ had just vanished from Karakura without so much as a goodbye or any sort of explanation to where she was going or why she was leaving. She had left that troublesome job to her mother. _And she was also supposed to keep them away from me._ She sighed inwardly. The fact remained that she didn't actually regret leaving. When she had been accepted with a full scholarship in the University a few towns away from Karakura in the course she had chosen, what was there to regret after all?

"Have you been alright?"

The question caught her slightly off guard. She had been expecting something more accusatory like why did you leave like that? or maybe why haven't you called?

"I've been fine, Hime." She chuckled, a sad smile creeping to her lips. _Trust Hime to make me laugh when I feel like my heart is coming out of my chest._ Maybe she should have expected a different type of question from another orange haired person, but not from Inoue Orihime. "And you? How have you been doing?"

The voice on the other side cracked. "I've been worried about you." The girl said not being able to keep a sob. "And the others have been worried too." A pause. _The others...humph_ "You didn't even come home for the new year." Another sob. "When are you coming back? What happened to your phone? Why aren't you calling or replying my e-mails? Why did you leave without saying anything? I...I..."

And just like she had expected, the torrent of questions came in a sudden assault of emotions. She could hear Orihime sobbing on the other side of the line. She sighed. _I have to tell her something...explain something..._Even if it wasn't the entire explanation. Even if she didn't feel completely ready. Even if it wasn't the truth. She owned the girl some kind of explanation.

"I probably won't go back for some time." She finally said. "I've got a lot of work to do." _And I don't really wanna deal with you guys right now._ "And it's a bit expensive, so..." she trailed off, hoping Orihime would catch the _I_ _don't really want to talk about that right now_ vibe and just lay off the issue.

A sniff came from the other side of the line. "Not even for spring break or summer vacations?"

She could almost see Orihime making her big puppy eyes. But because the orange haired girl wasn't actually standing there with those pleading wet eyes, the effect was sort of lost and therefore much easier to resist. It helped, of course, that she had absolutely no desire to return to Karakura anytime soon.

"I really don't know Hime." She replied truthfully. "There are still some things I need to sort out...by myself." The confession was barely louder than a whisper and that finally seemed to get through to her old friend.

"Oh...okay." the princess sounded forsaken.

Another pause fell between them. Like all friendships, hers and Orihime's also had ups and downs, but never had the silence felt so intrusive and heavy. The feeling, though, was very familiar to her. It had happened before. And it had ruined one friendship already.

Silence was a cruel weapon, destroying even the oldest of friendships.

"Well, Hime...I have stuff to do, so..." she stood up from the crouching position she had fallen to a few minutes before. "we'll talk later, okay?"

She could barely hear the girl's reply before the call ended. The phone beeped the dial off sign for a while, before she realized she was clutching it tightly while standing in the middle of the road, shivering with the cold wind. Closing her eyes, she snapped the phone shut, tossed it inside the black bang and just walked away.

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><p>Good night everyone (here it's night, hihi) I hope this chapter pleased and apeased you. ^_^I'm so glad everyone seems to like Kazuma.<p>

Thanks to all reviewers:

winter winds: yeah, 11th rocks, I though it would be more easy to connect him if he's from the 11th ^_^ and yes, I've considered Renji/Tatsu. I read a lot of RenTatsu fics too and I like the pariring a lot, they have a nice chemistry. But I simply don't know where this is going so, I hope you enjoyth enigma ^_^

metsfan101: hope this gets at least a 3 in your scale ^_^

ilufa: don't forget to quote me when you use my sentences ^_^ a chapter for you to relax between exams.

EveryEye: you're gonna make me blush. You're right about the OC thing, I thought it wouldn't work very well if it was a character that already existed although not many of Ichigo's friends know about Tatsuki (the pairing Hisagi/Tatsuki has been used and it's not bad, but I like my characters on a more wild side ^_^) True about the college thing too (hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it). Well, thanks a lot for the review. Feel free to point out mistakes as well.


	4. Stranger in the Dojo part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. If I did, I wouldn't ignore interesting characters that have simply disappeared from the story!

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><p><span>Shiranai<span>

By

Marie Darkholme

CHAPTER THREE: Stranger in the Dojo (part 2)

"_Ichi_!"

She corrected the foot stance of the smallest student in the class.

"_Ni_!"

The three rows of equally dressed children moved forward almost synchronous and extended their arms towards the center, their fists tightly closed.

"_San_!"

The class took another step forward, their fists cutting the air. The instructor moved between the neat lines, carefully watching as the students kept their fighting positions with their feet rooted on the _tatami_ floor. A black haired youngster slightly lost her balance and she quickly motioned her to widen her feet stance.

"_Yon_!"

Once again the class moved, the only sound being the rub of their uniforms as they took another step under the attentive watch of their black haired instructor.

Maybe it had started as nothing more than a part-time job; an opportunity to earn some money while teaching something she lived for. She hadn't actually put much thought into it when her Sensei asked her to help him with the younger classes of the _dojo_. _It will be a good experience for you._ He had said when trying to convince her that it was a great opportunity that she should not lay to waste.

"_Maegeri_." Her voice echoed in the room. "_Ichi_!"

Of course that being invited to teach at her dojo was something to be very proud of and it certainly could be a one in a lifetime opportunity. She hadn't exactly thought about teaching before. But the truth was that she had already done fairly well in it. She had, after all, taught Orihime, and the orange haired, despite her air-headiness had proven to be a good student and reached very far in the official rankings, even though she had never taken the actual exams.

"_Ni_!"

But she wasn't exactly fond of children.

"_San_!"

It wasn't that she didn't like them. And she was fairly good dealing with them. But she had never had to deal with a class of hyperactive kids running in every direction. She wasn't sure if she could handle an entire class of children. Fortunately things had turned up quite well for her, and upon informing her former _Sensei_ that she was going to study to another city, he had promptly written her a recommendation letter that had basically opened up the door for her current employment.

"_Yon_!"

A cry brought her back from her introspection. Her most recent student, a five years old youngster had apparently confused his right foot with his left and ended up with his butt on the floor. She remained in her position at the front of the class as all heads turned to see what had happened, the rows quickly forming a circle around the little boy. His face was flooded with tears even though he was trying not to cry and as she moved towards him, his hair suddenly turned from light brown to bright orange.

She frowned and closed her eyes, running her hand through her long hair. _Fuck this! _She thought. The phone call from earlier was still fresh in her head and it was clearly messing up her resolve to not think about them.

"Are you hurt, Yukimura-kun?" she kneeled down next to the boy.

He nodded, quickly wiping the tears to the sleeve of his _uwa-gi_, only to have a couple of them escape his control and roll down his flushed cheeks.

She made a quick examination of his ankle before picking him up. "Ootori-chan!" her eyes dropped down to the blue belted girl next to her. "You may start with the sequence for the first _kata_ until I return. I won't be long, so behave." She added the last part to the entire class.

"Hai, Arisawa-Sensei!" they quickly replied running back to form the usual rows for the practice of the _kata_.

"Don't worry." She smiled down to the boy as she walked out of the room into the entrance hall. "I don't think it's serious."

The dojo were she had ended up teaching was located in the old part of town and was dedicated to several martial arts besides her own, including MMA. It was composed of several rooms, some of them adapted for more occidental combat sports. Due to its size, it also had a small infirmary for small casualties like the current one.

"Arisawa-san, something happened?" the judo instructor, a guy about her age, had just finished his class and was standing on the hallway enjoying his small break before the next class took place. He quickly approached. "Allow me." He took the boy from her with a smile that clearly said _you shouldn't be carrying him when there's a strong man like me around._

The black haired rolled her eyes choosing to simply follow him. _This guy has a knack for getting on my nerves although he probably doesn't even notice it._ But he was also a health student so she was actually glad he would be taking a look for her at the boy. It was probably just a sprained ankle but her knowledge on sports' injuries was restricted to her own experience and a short first aid and basic life support course she had taken when she started teaching.

"I think he sprained his ankle." She said while opening the door to the infirmary.

"Let's see..."

She watched as he put Yukimura down and reached for a stool and carefully started to examine the boy's feet asking him to move it in several directions an passively moving it as well. Although he had a general rude appearance and sometimes acted like a dumbass, the judo instructor was very gentle with kids and they seemed to like him in general.

Her thoughts were midway between telling herself she should try to be nicer to him and regretting the idea when her focus was forcefully pushed into another direction. The air felt heavy as if it was charged with electricity before it suddenly cleared. In the fraction of a second, she gathered two vital pieces of information: first, the hollow had appeared way too close to the _dojo_ for her taste, and second, there was no _shinigami_ in her detection radius, which was to say, she could not feel Kazuma anywhere.

"Yup! It's a sprained ankle."

_It's moving fast!_ She checked her spiritual energy. It was as low as she could keep it. Still...the thing was coming on a straight line towards the _dojo_!

"But it's not very serious...let's wrap it up and you'll have to stay off it for a few days..."

_Either Kazuma has learned a new way to conceal his _reiatsu _or he's nowhere near town...shit!_

"Arisawa-san, could you hand me that white adhesive tape that's inside the top drawer?"

_Should I leave and try to attract his attention? It feels strong but maybe I can handle it..._ In her mind, several puzzles were constructed and destroyed in the same second. She could use her spiritual energy as bait but she would have to be far away to be sure no one would be hurt. The nearest place was a stretch to get to. At any rate she would still end up fighting amongst a residential area. _But the kids..._

"Arisawa-san?"

_...no! I have to get out!_

"Arisawa-san?!"

She reached for the door, momentarily forgotten about her surroundings. When her wrist was firmly gripped, her instant reaction was to counterattack with a hand grab and wrist torsion. Fortunately, she managed to stop herself before she went too far, her hand just barely forcing her colleague's fingers off her wrist. He eyed her surprised, still holding her wrist.

"Something wrong?" he smiled. "You were totally out of it, right now, weren't you?" But his hand remained firmly around her wrist.

"I have to leave for a little bit! Can you handle the class for me, Haru-san?" she replied as she tried to pry her wrist free from him. _What the fuck?_

"Yukimura-kun, rest here for a little while. Arisawa-sensei and I are just outside the door." And with that, he stood up from the stool and literally dragged her outside. "Arisawa-san, are you okay?"

The girl glanced down to her bruising wrist. _I don't have time for this and you're actually hurting me!_ She thought. "I'm fine. I just remembered..." _that I have a damned hollow coming this way and I don't actually wanna see anyone get hurt by it because of me! _"I forgot to make a payment and it's already past the deadline. It will just take a few minutes. Can you, please, watch the kids for me?"

The smirk on his face didn't go by unnoticed by her and the black haired karate master gave an inward sigh knowing what would follow.

"Okay, okay! But then you own me one!" his hand slid down from her wrist to her hand.

"Sure! I'll cover for you anytime!" she hastily replied, slipping her hand from his and running it through her hair as she gave a step backwards and prepared to leave. _Damn! I really don't have time for this right now!_ She could feel the hollow coming dangerously close and barely taken a step when Haru stopped her again.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind." He stopped in front of her, blocking the way to the door. "I was thinking we could go out...in a friendly way, of course!" he added quickly. "I don't mean that I don't want it to be more than friendly but I don't want you to feel like I'm hitting on you or an..."

It was too close now. And there was still no sign of Kazuma. _Fuck this! I should have asked for his phone number or beep or whatever...where the hell did he go? _She sighed. _This is definitely the worst day I've had all week. First I get a call from Hime and then I'm getting harassed by a colleague...and the cherry on top of my day-cake: a freaking hollow!_

"So, are you free tomorrow?"

_It's that a..._the hollow had stopped and she could feel his energy gathering as if it was about to..._oh shit, it is!_

"Get down!"

Instinctively, her reiatsu spiked around her as she tried to shield both herself and the astounded judo instructor lying beneath her. The large energy shot hit the floor just where they had been seconds before, scattering wooden debris across the hallway. The attack was quickly followed by the screams of the scared students. There had been no killing intent otherwise there would be a lot more damages than the new skylight on the ceiling.

"What happened?" his voice was scared and cracking as they stood up. He pointed to the ceiling and then to the hole on the floor, his hand shaking terribly. "T-t-there's a hole..."

_Yeah, there's a hole in the ceiling. Didn't you just see the huge ball that went through it?! Oh, right, I forgot. I'm the only one who can see it!_

"Yeah, there's a hole in the ceiling." the girl replied calmly. "Get yourself together and start evacuating everyone..." she could see he was not listening to her. His eyes still vaguely wondered from the absence of roof to the floor, his jaw slightly hanging. Outside the shrill cackle of the hollow echoed through the streets. She stretched her hand and without a hint of hesitation, slapped it across the instructor's face, leaving a bright red mark on his cheek. "Listen to me!" she grabbed him at his shoulders and pulled him down to eye level. "Get the kids and evacuate everyone through the back exit. NOW!"

After what seemed like a long time simply gawking at her, the judo instructor finally gathered his wits and ran over to the karate room.

_Now you and me, asshole!_ The black haired girl stepped outside, her eyes raised to the rooftop of the building across the _dojo_ where she knew her enemy was.

"Look at that! It's a little human girl!" the creature cackled again. To her surprise it was strangely humanoid, and it's mask was resting on the side of its head. She remembered vaguely that there were hollows with humanoid forms. _But if I remember correctly they were freakishly strong like the ones that killed my friends and this thing is just above average._

"Oi, girl! What are you?" it took a step forward and graciously fell from the roof down to the road some feet ahead of her. "I was expecting more!"

It walked slowly in her direction, the smirk never leaving his lips. Her senses remained sharpened to any change in the spirit power emanating from him. She also knew it was possible he was concealing his powers, although until now she had always been able to make accurate readings on others' reiatsu. The fact that the creature seemed more interested in talking than fighting was confusing her. This was the first time a hollow had actually started a conversation..._usually they are all about give me your tasty soul and I'm going to enjoy eating your soul...what the hell is wrong with this one?_

"Don't pretend like you're not listening because I know you are, girl!" it took another step forward entering what she considered to be a dangerous zone. Nevertheless, she stood her ground. "I'll ask again! What are you?"

Her eyebrows raised in confusion. "I don't get what you mean. I thought you were smart enough to see I'm a human."

She raised her arm to block quickly stepping a few feet back. The hollow removed his hand and eyed her with an amused expression.

"Feisty, aren't you?"

_Block! Right uppercut!_ Her movements followed without even a conscious thought being formed. _Fuck! This thing is playing around! And I can't really tell if that's a good thing or a bad one._

"Well, well! Seems there's more to you than what meets the eye!" the creature laughed as he cleaned the trail of blood from his lower lip. "Oh boy, we're going to have so much fun together!"

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><p>Hello everyone!<p>

Nop, I'm not dead. Well, I'm sort of socially dead right now and although I want to write I don't really have time for it. But this had to come out. I hope to write the next one soon too, since this is such a cliffhanger ^_^

To all reviewers, thank you very much!

ilufa: you're actually reading this story. I'm surprised!

winter winds: yup, I get what you mean and it makes total sense. I'm actually wondering myself who else would try contacting her. Maybe I can squeeze some surprises. Sorry that Kazuma is sort of absent in this chapter too. He's being really needed right now! These shinigami are never where they are supposed to be ^_^

Bleeding sun3ei: thanks for reviewing. I don't know if she's going to be in touch with Ichigo :P it's a secret still!

KatzeNoel: bet you thought I had forgotten about this right? Well, I haven't. Hope you're still interested hihi

Ja ne!

PS: if you find any mistakes, please do point them out! Thanks.


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